A new Xbox update is guaranteed to save you money on your electricity bill
Microsoft is rolling out an update for Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One that automatically switches the consoles to the power-saving Shutdown mode as part of an effort by the company to ‘make Xbox the first ‘carbon aware console.’
No, it doesn’t mean your console will refuse to boot up Call of Duty until you’ve done the recycling. Instead, it’s Microsoft’s response to criticism that the Xbox Series X|S' surprisingly power-hungry sleep mode (Instant-On) could add £60 a year ( that's about $73 / AUS$105 ) to your energy bills. (via The Verge)
Xbox consoles now have a suite of new energy-saving settings that have them turn on when your electricity is cheap and then turn off when it's expensive, turning them into the console equivalent of a storage heater.
In an Xbox Wire Blog post, Xbox technical program manager Blaine Hauglie stated: “When your console is plugged in, connected to the Internet and regional carbon intensity data is available, Xbox will schedule game, app, and OS updates for your console at specific times during the nightly maintenance window that may result in lower carbon emissions because a higher proportion of electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources on the electric grid.
“For example, instead of your Xbox waking up during the nightly maintenance window at a random time between 2am – 6am, your console will wake up at a time when it can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid. This decreases fossil fuel dependency and CO2 emissions, and could potentially save you money.”
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The blog post also states that Xbox Series X owners will also be able to manually schedule downloads via its new active hours settings. These let you schedule when the console uses its more power-hungry always-on and remote wake features. When not in active mode, the console will shut down and use only 0.5 watts of power compared to the 10-15 watts while active. With this mode, you could set it up to be active only when you know you will be home or when electricity is cheaper. For people who are, say, on an Economy 7 tariff.
Xbox One owners will also have access to the active hours feature, but it will default to ‘always on’ unless changed in the settings. While turning on power-saving shutdown will result in longer boot times for the console.
These changes are available now for members of the Xbox Insiders program and will roll out to all other units later.
Every little helps
As the cost of living skyrockets, anything to help you save a couple of quid is always welcome.
This new update for Xboxes is a small one that most probably won’t notice until their energy bill arrives. However, the potential savings amount to a new game a year, a posh dinner out, the best part of a week's shopping, or a month's shopping, if you’re an attic-dwelling recluse that lives on a diet of cereal, pot noodles and pokemon branded cheese toasties like me.
However, these new energy-saving modes still don’t make the Series X|S the most energy-efficient console. That title belongs to the Nintendo Switch by several hundred-country miles.
But still, it's a step in the right direction. Plus, it's always good to see a company react to criticism positively, and any attempts to make gaming, which is probably worse for the environment than hiking or bird watching, a little greener is something we should all be pushing for.
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